Sunday 27 May 2012

Tale end of the Highlands May 2012 - Click on photos to see the full size

-I had waved off Jean & Bob, and my car was packed and ready to leave after them. I had decided to stay on for a couple more days because I always find it very difficult to tear myself away from the Highlands. I had been able to book a room at The Priory Hotel, Beauly, where we had eaten High Tea the day before, but they would only have a room available for two nights.

I stopped just before leaving the village and looked back across the fields at the houses and the snow capped mountains. Despite Jean & Bob having left some 15 minutes before me, they passed me as I was taking the photo, so must have taken a wrong turn and had to turn around to get to Inverness.

Beauly is only a few miles from Kiltarlity, so I decided that as I could not check in until after 3pm, and it was then only about 9am, I would go to Inverness and fill up with fuel, and have breakfast.

There is a good view of Kessock Bridge from the road to Inverness, beside the Beauly Firth (it becomes the Moray Firth beyond Chanory Point where it is almost met by Fort George from the south bank of the Firth) .


However, this view is from a tiny track to the north of the bridge looking south.
I had decided to get fuel at Morrison's, and as I waited at the traffic lights, Bob & Jean came out of Morrison's Filling station - and took the wrong turn again. This time there was nothing I could do about it, so they would end up having to go round the city again to get to the A9 and their road home.

I had decided that since the weather was still being kind, I would try to go over the Pass of the Cattle again, so I set off for Applecross.  It is a wonderful route, through some lovely lonely country and beside some lovely lochs - but then, to me, all the lochs are beautiful!

I stopped to take a photo of Dulnain Bridge, as I am always in awe of the men who built these lovely bridges with very little by way of mechanical help and would have only had hand tools and horse drawn transport to get to and from their work and to carry the lovely granite they used to built them.


Dulnain Bridge

Soon I was beside the Loch Luichart, and it was a blustery day so the water looked decidedly choppy.


Loch Luichart - the railway track to Kyle of Lochalsh runs beside this Loch

There was still a fair amount of sunshine around, so my fingers were firmly crossed as I headed down glorious Glens towards Lochcarron along the A890. It looks much wider in the photo than it is, as it is single track with passing places. Happily there are plenty of passing places, but occasionally some fool will park in them and make life difficult for other motorists.

Driving down to Lochcarron, through the Coulag area


Loch Carron just before entering the village

Strathcarron came into view and the delightful village that is strung along the northern shore of Lochcarron. The Clouds were now building up, but the patch of sunlight through the clouds sparkled on Loch Carron. I was planning on stopping at my favourite sea-food restaurant at Kishorn. I have rarely had such wonderful seafood as they sell there. Normally I have Squat Lobsters, but today I was to be very disappointed. They had not got enough and wanted to keep those they had for their version of the mixed seafood platter. At £27.50 I was not going to be buying that! It is designed for two to share anyway, and being on my own it was definitely a no-go area! Instead I settled for the most delicious bowl of Cullen Skink soup it was my good luck to taste. Followed by smoked salmon what more could I want? Well, really I wanted Squat Lobster, but I was very happy with what I did have.


Bealach na Ba - Also called The Pass of the Cattle

The road is one of few in the Scottish Highlands that is engineered similarly to roads through the great mountain passes in the Alps, with very tight hairpin bends that switch back and forth up the hillside and gradients that approach 20%. It boasts the greatest ascent of any road climb in the UK, rising from sea level at Applecross to 626 metres (2,054 ft), and is the third highest road in Scotland.

The weather decided to be difficult now. Whilst I was in there, chatting to a lovely couple who joined me at my table as the place was packed out (there are only 7 tables!) it started to rain. There is no point at all in driving over the beautiful Pass of the Cattle (Bealach na Ba) in poor weather, as I had found out on the last time I went over, about 3 years ago. The incredible view back over Loch Carron and out over Skye are denied to you in poor visibility. It is the highest Pass in the UK, but to enjoy it at its best, good visibility is really needed.
Reluctantly I decided to turn around and head back to Beauly. By now the rain had arrived in earnest, so it had been a good decision.

I got to the Hotel, and although normally all the parking area around the hotel is full, I was my usual lucky self, and managed to park right outside the door. In fact, I got the same lovely bedroom I had had last time I was there, which overlooked the square, and now that there was free Wi-Fi as well, the picture was complete. In no time I had downloaded the photos I had taken that day and caught up with all my friends emails and my other friends on Twitter.

I had been tempted to have another High tea, but having had a good breakfast, then a sumptuous lunch, decided that just a simple main course would be fine that night. I had ordered the Dover Sole Meunier, but the waitress came back and told me they had none left (it was all of 7pm!!) and would I care to have the haddock instead?
I really don't think I have ever had a greater contrast between two meals in my life! It was dreadful. Dry beyond cardboard, and coated in some anonymous coating that was neither batter nor breadcrumbs. My guess it that it had been gathered from the bottom of a bird-cage! I resolved not to fall for that again. The restaurant was crowded with about 20 golfers there for a weeks golfing holiday, plus various other guests, so I really felt a bit nervous about complaining, but complain I did. I am a firm believer that if you don't tell them if something is bad, they have no chance to correct it. I do always compliment them on the good service they give, so I feel quite justified in complaining when things are bad.
I was back up in my room, now grasping a nice large glass of red, and onto my laptop, where I spent the next few hours happily tweeting.
I did wonder what the breakfast was going to be like and have to say it was superb. I could not have wished for more choice and it was all beautifully cooked (perhaps the breakfast chef is not the same one as had been on duty the night before)!


From the top of the Struan, looking East over the Dornoch Firth & bridge

Sunday morning and I decided that after the abortive trip to the Falls of Shin on Friday, I would go there instead. The weather was pretty bad, but since the Salmon would not be running for another couple of months, I would not be going down to the see the Falls, but just having a wander around the Harrods of the North. 

The River Shin, above the Falls of Shin

After a pit stop for a sandwich and a drink, and with rain falling gently all around, I decided to go onto some roads I have not been on for about 5 years. I headed toward Lairg, but instead of turning right into the village I turned left across the moorland. It was wonderful. So empty and as someone once said, if the weather is good, you look at far distances, but if the rain comes, you look in much more detail, and I did just that. I rounded a corner, and noticed this lovely little Bridge over the Cassley river that tumbles over Achness Falls. They are lovely, and in the rain looked to have a good amount of water coming down.

The River Cassley tumbling over the Achness Falls



The River is down in a deep gorge here

Primroses in bloom on the banks of the River Cassley
A small bridge below these falls carries the road I was driving, and the banks of it had lots of wild primroses in bloom on it. It was like seeing dots of sunshine captured for anyone to enjoy who took the time to stop and look.

My next turn took me toward Oykell Bridge, as I had rented a cottage near there a few years ago, so it would be lovely to see it again. The views of the Kyle of Sutherland are breathtaking, so I have got to include a couple of photos of them. In spite of it being misty, and giving everything the look of having been painted in watercolours, it is still very lovely.


The Kyle of Sutherland looking West

I was fairly high up by now, and on a back lane which leads from Invercassley to Achnahanat.


 The Kyles of Sutherland looking East, where it goes down and empties into the Dornoch Firth at Bonar Bridge.

I had hoped to get some photos of Carbisdale Castle but it is shrouded completely in scaffolding at the moment, so is obviously undergoing extensive restoration. It is currently some sort of Youth Hostel, but I am not sure if it is the property of the YHA but it has a fascinating history.


Carbisdale Castle
The castle was built between 1905 and 1917 for Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, the second wife of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland, whom she married in 1889. She is better known as "Duchess Blair" because of her first marriage to Captain Arthur Kindersely Blair of the 71st Highland Light Infantry, who died in a hunting accident in 1883 near Pitlochry. The marriage was not well liked in the Sutherland family. When the Duke died in 1892 his will, in favour of the Duchess, was contested by his son and heir Cromartie. In a court process that followed, the Duchess was found guilty of destroying documents and was imprisoned for six weeks in London.
Eventually, the Sutherland family came to an agreement giving Duchess Blair a substantial financial settlement. Furthermore, the family agreed to build a castle for the Duchess, as long as it was outside of the Sutherland lands. The Duchess employed a firm of Ayrshire builders and work started in 1906 just outside the Sutherland lands in Ross-shire. It was located on a hillside to be visible to a large part of Sutherland, especially the main road and rail line which the Sutherland family would have to use to travel south. Thus it became known as the "Castle of Spite" as it was widely considered that the Duchess located the castle there to spite her husband's family and the settlement agreement. This is further supported by the fact that the castle's tower only has clocks on three of its four faces - the side facing Sutherland is blank, supposedly because the Duchess did not wish to give the time of day to her former relatives.
My route now took me through Ardgay, and then back over the Struan to Dingwall and Beauly. There is a wonderful Viewpoint on this road of Dornoch Firth, and looking back up towards Bonar Bridge

Dornoch Firth looking toward Bonar Bridge

This viewpoint is usually quite busy, but on a windy and, as the Scots so descriptively call it, a dreich day, there was just one couple on a motor cycle. They turned out to be French, so having offered to take a photo of the two of them together, we had a few minutes chat. It was their first time in this part of Scotland, but they had fallen in love with it completely, even in the rain. It just goes to show, no matter what mother nature decides to give us, she never hides her beauty of her own accord unless she decides to cover her face with her veil of mist.
I had enjoyed a wonderful day, and arrived back at my Hotel in perfect time to get ready for dinner. I decided that I would give them another chance, and had a splendid dinner which more than made up for the dismal meal I had had the night before.
I was on the road home after a good breakfast, this time of a great mmoist Finnan Haddock and 2 poached eggs, and as I had promised to prepare a practical quiz for the Women's Rural Institute that night, it was just as well that the hotel was full for the rest of the week or I would have been tempted to stay, regardless of what the weather forecast said.
I had had a wonderful holiday, and as soon as I got home I have already booked the same delightful holiday home for next year and Jean & Bob are as keen to join me as I am to go. They are wonderful friends, because holidays together can mean the end of friendships if there are any chinks in them, but ours is very strong and I cherish them both.



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